If you are looking for a delightful museum in New York City, consider the New York Transit Museum! Located inside an unused subway station in downtown Brooklyn, there is plenty of space to explore the history of NYC public transit through the years.

The Logistics

Destination: New York Transit Museum

Location: 99 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, NY

Hours: Currently limited to Friday-Sunday 11:00AM-4:00PM, Reservation Only!

Cost: Adult/Child/Senior $10/$5/$5

Restrictions: Covid Restrictions are currently in place, so check the rules before you go! Reservations, masks, and proof of vaccination are all required!

The Museum

The History

The New York Transit Museum is in Brooklyn, located inside the Court Street Subway station. Opened in 1936, the station was fully operational for 10 years. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a very popular stop, so the city turned it into a parking lot for unused subway cars. Occasionally, it had a more grand purpose and was used for training and even as a movie set! Today, it is a great location for a transit museum.

The Trains

If you are traveling with children, the highlight is likely to be the collection of trains that you can tour.

Since the museum is built inside an old 1936 subway station, there is plenty of room for a large collection of trains.

Most of them allow you to board, so enjoy comparing the seating arrangements, materials, decor, and more!

The Advertisements

If you are traveling with teens or independently, the advertisements on the trains are sure to delight.

Look at the ad that shows what all you can buy with cigarette box coupons! Our teenagers were fascinated with the gender stereotypes that these ads highlighted. Can you imagine if some of these ads were shown today?

The products that were for sale during this time period were fun to see. Who remembers the huge monitor boxes with tiny screens?

The ads related to riding the trains were also fun.

And the political ads/notices were quite interesting, if somewhat disturbing.

The Construction

We also thoroughly enjoyed seeing the construction of the subway system. Can you imagine trying to built this with pickaxes rather than more modern equipment?

The list of wages was also quite illuminating.

And More

And there is plenty more to see!

Overall, this was a fun stop for our family, when we visited New York earlier this fall – definitely recommended if you’re in town.

Keep reading our travel blog for more museum ideas!

Here are some more posts from this trip to NYC: